Religion

is the combination

of time and eternity

movement and stillness

We are on board a ship

Even the chairs are slanted

(or is it the floor

that is slanted

and the chairs

that follow suit?)

We are a tray of buttons

of different colours

shapes and sizes

We lift the lid

and take them out

for a time

watch how they glint

in the early sunlight

As on a ferryboat

I am still

it is the boat that moves

but when we touch land

the roles are reversed

it is I who move

the boat is still

Religion

is the combination

of time and eternity

movement and stillness

Sometimes I am there

sometimes my mind wanders

my eye flies in the rafters

enters the folds of clothes

burns in the candlelight

like a piece of fluff

stray cotton

I grow smaller

and am glad

of the change

glad of the company

the gold mask

turned towards me

the skin charred

the teeth white

and sharp

I cling to the back of the chair

in front of me

and watch

the sea pass

Friday, 11 am

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